


In America

by edan_marie



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series, Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Cowboys, Gen, would you believe me if I said I wrote this for GCSE History homework
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-17
Updated: 2015-04-17
Packaged: 2018-03-19 21:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3624492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edan_marie/pseuds/edan_marie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joey leads Tristan and Melvin on their first cattle drive, but tragedy strikes when a bitter outlaw ambushes the group.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In America

The year is 1871. The last night of this season’s cattle drive, three cowboys stand with their horses on the outskirts of Abilene. Two carry pistols and the third a revolver. One of the cowboys tips his Stetson, clearing his gaze to the foggy sight of the town before them, where silhouettes are already congregating round the local saloons in their hungry masses. He turns away, then, and faces his companions.

“We should hurry. A storm’s blowing in, and the other guys are nearly three miles away.” The two nod eagerly- both new to the job, they’re fresh from Texas and keen to finish their first cattle drive without a spot of trouble. Their leader, an older man by the name of Joey Wheeler, is rather more experienced; outlaws are a common sight round Abilene, and Joey doesn’t doubt that some might try and interfere tonight. Just two nights before Bill Hichok had been killed- and though any town is no doubt hit hard by the loss of their town marshall, Abilene is a prize to all those thieves and rogues looking to cause some mischief. Joey’s already lost three cows to the bastards; a storm would be the perfect opportunity to lead one particularly momentous ambush.

Not that either of Joey’s companions would be put at ease by such predictions. So it’s with one final glance backwards, to that town shrouded in fog and darkness, that Joey mounts his horse and the three men set off.

The journey passes in a peaceable enough quiet. The sky is thundering but the moon is bright, guiding the three men on, and Joey is almost relaxing in his saddle. There’s no sense in letting down his guard, no sense in doubting the efforts of outlaws but the air is quiet, the land clear. No threat emerges. And Joey is already joking with the other boys in his group- Tristan and Melvin are both barely out of their teen years, but Tristan wears his Stetson with an indefatigable pride. He holds his pistol like a treasured possession; he had hardly required any training on how to use it at all when he’d been given it, and Joey knows the boy- boisterous as he is- is one of the few young ones to be trusted with such a weapon.

Melvin is rather less impressed with the proceedings, gaze turned longingly every few minutes back towards the long disappeared Abilene and all the saloons he yearns to go back to. Joey rolls his eyes. Melvin has a thievish look about him, a glint in his eyes like he’d rather be riding with the outlaws firing up a storm of chaos wherever he goes but he’s soft on the inside. Childlike, almost. If trouble hits tonight, Melvin will not be the cause of it.

As though brought on by that very thought, the sky splits open suddenly, white lightning blinding Joey for a moment, and when his vision clears it’s to the howling maelstrom of a thunderstorm spitting rain and wind in every direction. The rain lashes, soaking the three men in minutes and Joey hopes their fellow cowboys will reach them before the grip of the cold does. Cattle is money but cowboys are men, and in all his years on this job, he’s not lost one yet.

He doesn’t intend to now.

“How much farther ‘til we reach the others?” Tristan calls, and it’s not lost on Joey that Tristan isn’t just shivering from the cold. Joey can’t blame him. It’ll be hard to control the herd with this storm raging all around them, and with the night setting in in earnest and won’t that be a gift to any lurking outlaws?

Still, Joey is the eldest here. Reassuring these two men is his priority. “We’re almost there. You both remembered to bring your lariats? Those’ll come in handy.” Before Tristan or Melvin can answer, a fresh bang echoes across the land.

And it doesn’t sound like thunder.

“Was that a gunshot?” Melvin demands, and Joey chokes on his dread.

“It was just the storm.” He replies, though his words don’t convince anyone, and before Melvin can further question Joey- or Tristan; this latest clap of thunder seems to have silenced the younger boy- there’s a new voice rolling across the night to meet them.

“No, that was definitely a gunshot. An _American_ gunshot.” Joey twists left, and there’s a stranger riding beside him. It’s hard to tell many details, but the man is grinning, and there’s only just enough time to take in the darkened glasses and the bandana of a flag wrapped round the man’s temples before a second gunshot cracks the air. Tristan grunts- the stranger laughs- and in seconds Tristan is slumped over in his saddle, unmoving.

“The name’s Bandit Keith. And it sure is hard to see in a storm with these sunglasses on, but I’m an American cowboy, and American cowboys always wear sunglasses!” The man- the _murderer_ , Joey thinks, suddenly seething- laughs like a man deranged, before he twists with his face focused on Joey. His glasses are dark; too dark to see through though Joey’s sure the man’s eyes are fixed upon him. That doesn't matter, though- no, Tristan may be dead, but Joey will be damned if he risks seeing Melvin go the same way, and if they are to get to safety, they need to ignore this newcomer. He's not a man easily mistaken, it's clear, and even where he not distinctively marked by his bandana, Joey knows the man's face will be imprinted on his mind 'til the day he dies. When home is reached, justice _will_ be taken, of that Joey is sure. Tristan will be avenged.

For now, though, Joey and Melvin need to get away.

"Why did you shoot Tristan?" Before Joey can coax his horse into faster motion, it's apparent Melvin has other ideas, and much as Joey shakes his head in warning, Melvin draws his pistol in an open threat. With the cattle herd still a good few miles away, in wait, surely Melvin must know as well as Joey that they can't afford a fight right now. With any luck, Melvin's pistol is just for show, and it's effective at once, as Bandit Keith crows in reply,

"Because he doesn't deserve to be a cowboy; he's not American!" How this man could have any idea of Tristan's ancestry is beyond Joey, but nonetheless the man is enraged, and Joey is itching to flee. Provoking Bandit Keith could prove fatal, and Joey can't have Melvin's blood on his hands, especially so soon after Tristan. The trail boss would be ashamed if he knew- he had gone ahead hours earlier, with half the cattle, in fear of outlaws lurking, and now on Joey's watch, Tristan had been murdered. Never mind the trail boss' shame- Joey's own knows no bounds.

At his back, Melvin is quick to find his own anger, and he retorts sharply, "Tristan was a Texas boy through and through! Just because his mother was Canadian, doesn't make him any less-" There's a sharp intake of breath from Bandit Keith, cutting off Melvin, and as Joey watches, Bandit Keith lowers his head, stetson hanging in open shame. It's a look Joey recognizes well enough, year after year of hungover cowboys, having wasted the night before a big cattle drive, and all of last drive's earnings gone on liquor and whores.

But Bandit Keith's shame is much greater.

"I just killed a fellow Canadian?" He gasped. "My father would be so ashamed! All my life I've wanted to be a cowboy- to be a true American!" His head rises, eyes on the stormy horizon, and even through his sunglasses, Bandit Keith is openly, unashamedly, weeping. "I don't deserve to be a true American cowboy in America!"

Before Joey and Melvin can react, Bandit Keith whimpers one final time, and with a single gunshot, he has ended his life. Joey and Melvin left in their shock, and lingering grief though there is more bewilderment now, at what has just occurred, and it is several minutes before either has the words to say, let alone the strength of mind to speak.

"We get the cattle. Then we try and work out what on Earth just happened." Joey decides, and Melvin- his expression strained- nods, in quiet agreement. After a quick, regretful glance at the two bodies around them, the two cowboys don their stetsons and head for their final cattle drive.


End file.
